How important are Dreams in the novel “Of Mice Of Men” Essay

In the novel ‘Of Mice Of Men’ there are many themes which set aside the characters from others, however all of them have one thing in common-they all have dreams. Lennie and George share a dream of owning there own land and later on Candy wants to join them. This shows that everyone in the novel needs dreams to keep them going through life. This shows that the title question applies greatly because dreams keep the novel moving along and make the novel interesting. Everyone has needs but everyone also has wants. All the themes in ‘of mice of men’ contribute towards everyone’s loneliness and then making everyone dependent on dreams. The novel is set in the time of the depression in 1930s America so there is much loneliness which makes people think of dreams. Because of the depression there weren’t many jobs around so there were a lot of migrant workers. These workers travelled all over America to find jobs. Because they travelled a lot they were not able to make any friends, which would make them lonely. This would cause them to have dreams and to constantly think about them whenever they’re lonely. Because depression is around poverty is also present. Dreams always come up in conversations, especially Lennie’s conversations. Lennie is the one who brings up the subject all the time, ‘An live off the fatta the lan.’ Lennie always talks about caring for rabbits, ‘An have Rabbits.’ Sexism is also linked in with dreams because Curley’s wife has a dream of becoming a Hollywood movie star. She is the only woman on the ranch and gets lonely because she has no one to talk to. She has her dreams to overcome her loneliness and she has something to hope and look forward to. Ageism is another factor, which affects dreams because Crooks is old and disabled. Crooks is jealous that George and Lennie have each other to go around. Crooks is alone and gets lonely but Lennie and George can always speak to each other. They all need dreams to cover up their loneliness. They all can think and imagine their dreams. Dreams will make the characters happy and forget about everything else. This is why it is an important theme because it effects all the characters. George and Lennie are the main characters who are not alone and share a dream of owning a farm. They are the lucky characters. Nearly all of the characters in the novel have a dream. Curley and the Boss don’t seem to have anything. George and Lennie have a dream and have each other to look after. Their dream is to have a house, own a couple of acres of land, a cow and some pigs. Lennies also wants some rabbits. ‘ I ain’t no people†¦ I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain’t no good.’ This quote shows us that George likes having Lennie around him otherwise he would be lonely like the other ranch workers. The relationship between George and Lennie is sacred because they are more than just friends. Both George and Lennie share the same dream and this makes them more alike because they want the same things. George is a clever, stocky man and Lennie is a gentle giant who can lift heavy objects on his own. They both care about each other because they have been together for a while. George does feel sorry for Lennie but he does sometimes wishes that Lennie wasn’t with him because he drags George down by being mentally challenged. Lennie does say that he can go away onto the mountains, but George doesn’t want to hurt his feelings or make him feel pain in any way. He also feels that he wouldn’t be able take care of himself in the mountains. Lennie is very dependent on George for things and George also depends on Lennie for companionship. Candy has also had a dream of owning a farm where he can be useful again. Candy in very interested in George and Lennie’s dream and thinks it can all really work out because they all have each other and they would nearly have enough money to buy a farm because of Candy’s extra 350 dollars. â€Å"Tell you what – He leaned forward eagerly. ‘S’spose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in.† George and Lennie are very tempted at this offer because it would mean their dream would finally come true. Candy has to have dreams because he has no one to talk to after Carlson shot his dog, † If you want me to, I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with.† Candy’s dog helped him through life because he was lonely and now that he’s dead he needs a dream to look forward to and hope for. That’s why he wants to join with Lennie and George. Candy is old and disabled so he is lonely, which restricts him to doing certain things which makes him lonely. Most of the characters want there dream to come true and then they want to relax in it. Curley’s wife also has a dream of becoming a Hollywood movie star. She wants to become an actress and become famous, but we soon know this doesn’t come true, in fact the death of Curley’s wife brings an end to all dreams in the novel because of how the death happened with Lennie. Curley’s wife is lonely because she has no one to talk too because there are no other women on the ranch and Curley just tells her to be quiet and go back inside the ranch. Curley’s wife plays around and flirts with others to get attention, this attraction was fatal between herself and Lennie and ended her dream of being an actress. Curley’s wife spends a lot of time on her own, hence the need for dreams in her life. She is unhappy with her ranch life and wants a Hollywood life. Since she has nothing to do she gets involved with other characters like George and Lennie which trigger off serious incidents that later happen. Curley’s wife relates to the theme of sexism in the 1930’s. She is treated unfairly by her husband and cannot do any work on the ranch to keep herself occupied because she is a women. The other ranch workers think and have dreams because they are very lonely because at that time when Steinbeck wrote the novel the depression was happening. This meant that workers had to travel around America looking for jobs. This made them very lonely and they thought of the same dreams as George and Lennie but we never experienced any come true in the novel. They have nothing to do and so they just read comics and imagine how they would like their own farm. All the characters have fantasies and live a life in their dreams. In â€Å"Of Mice Of Men† dreams are never achieved because of the circumstances. It is Curley’s wife who puts all stops to dreams and makes George realise that Lennie is no longer useful to him. George feels that nothing will ever be achieved with Lennie around because he will always keep you back because of his childlike manners and actions. Dreams are never achieved at the time all of the characters are set in. Nothing is settled in the 1930’s as the depression has happened. Any character who seems to have a dream seems to get himself into trouble. The relationship between George and Lennie was perfect for a dream to come true, but if only Lennies simpleness did not mean his strength was uncontrollable. If Curley’s wife didn’t flirt with Lennie he would have been ok. Lennie got too nervous that’s why he ended up killing Curley’s wife when she screamed. Dreams are also never achieved because of each of the characters themselves. For example: how Curley acts. If Curley wasn’t such a mean person George might not have killed Lennie. Dreams are very important to the plot â€Å"Of Mice Of Men.† Dreams are what carry people on from their loneliness and there bad times. Dreams are needed for every character who is lonely. When a character in â€Å"Of Mice of Men† gets lonely he/she thinks about a dream which they want to come true. With dreams characters can imagine anything they want to and this will keep them happy if nothing else does. Steinbeck is saying that anybody can get lonely and unhappy sometimes but anyone can have dreams to help them through bad times, it just depends on how deeply that lonely person can imagine there dreams.